I Knew You Were Trouble
by noahcomemidnight
Summary: So how did Ianto Jones and Clint Barton really meet? Explore the past between Clint and Ianto in their younger years. This is a backstory to their relationship (as I have mentioned in my fanfiction Ultimate)
1. Author's Note

**_Author's Note: Hey guys! I've had a lot (and I mean, a LOT) of requests for a fanfiction about how Clint Barton and Ianto Jones got to know each other. If you don't know what I'm on about, then hello, you must be new here, because in 2013, I started this literal shit-storm of a crossover called "Ultimate". And when I say shit-storm, I mean that it started out with just Torchwood and Avengers, and now Lord of the Rings, Wolverine, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Sherlock, StarTrekk, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and so many other fandoms are involved (and more are yet to be revealed, though only a few more, as literally it's hell attempting to keep up with twenty or more characters and trying not to make too many plot holes). Getting to the point, "Ultimate" is my oldest, longest, and most read fanfiction, in which I ship Clint Barton and Ianto Jones. Many have asked for an entire prequel fic to their relationship, so here it is._**

 ** _-Crash Cola (noahcomemidnight)_**


	2. One

Ianto Jones had never been "normal" per say. With having an adopted sister, a constantly absent mother, and a missing father, nothing was ever truly "normal". From what Ianto could remember, his childhood was mostly just him and his adopted sister, as their mother was out on business trips often, leaving the two to take care of themselves. As a result, Ianto had trouble with the concept of meeting new people and making friends. God forbid he had to speak to anyone at all; he was quite shy, yet polite, only speaking when spoken to.

His adopted sister was a few years older than he, and thus grew and moved away from home, leaving him alone for a few years. In the silence of the empty home, he waited for his mother to return for a few hours between her business trips, and did anything he could to pass the time- which mostly involved cleaning the house and sewing holes in any and all items that happened to be worn. As time passed, she didn't come home as often, and after leaving a note and with his phone number included (as his mother never gave him her cell number, and he figured if maybe he gave her his number, they'd keep in touch), he left home and entered the great big world.

Of course, the moment Ianto moved his things to his car and pulled out of the driveway, the "great big world" greeted him with a black SUV going sixty-five miles an hour in the middle of a neighbourhood. As Ianto nearly got his tail nicked by the lunatic driver, he happened to catch the car's license plate number.

 ** _5H131D 73_**

Good. He could report the driver before anyone else was at risk of being injured. Ianto pulled out his phone and made a call to the local police, reporting the car tag. Unfortunately, it didn't go exactly as he thought.

"Sir, I would like to report a reckless driver."

"D' ya have the plate?" The man on the other end of the line drawled in a thick southern accent.

"Yes, sir. It was five, 'h', one, three, one, 'd', space, seven, three."

"One moment." Ianto heard the man begin to type away on a clickity-clackity keyboard, before returning back to the phone. "Y'sure that's the plate, son?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

The man let out a sigh. "Sorry, that plate doesn' exist."

"P-pardon-?" Ianto managed, furrowing his brows, knowing he saw the plate correctly, but why didn't it exist in the police records-?

"Ya heard me, son. It doesn't exist. Keep 'n eye out for any more reckless drivers, though, 'n report 'em."

The line went dead, and Ianto took a moment to soak in the situation, before shaking his head. He must have read the license plate wrong. There was no possible way that the car didn't register, as all cars had to have their plates tagged by the government...

Ianto sighed to himself before pulling out of the driveway, pushing his odd experience to the back of his mind as he focused on not getting his car totalled.


	3. Two

Ianto Jones, in short, became a tailor. With his keen sense of depth and length perception, it wasn't hard for him to master his trade. It was just him and a few other people in the small shop, sandwiched between a tattoo parlour and a dry cleaner (convenient). Down the street was their biggest seller- a mysterious building that looked more like a parking garage, with a helicopter landing pad on the very top of the stout skyscraper. Ianto took most of the orders from the people who represented the building, making many uniform suits in varying sizes, much to his perplexity. When he gained the courage to ask his manager about the company, his manager just brushed him off. This only spiked Ianto's interest in the place, which led him to starting a search.

Ianto began to track their balances and spending more frequently, trying to figure out how they had so much money for tailoring in the first place. He kept a close eye on which people came in to place orders, finding that six people rotated out. Ianto began to wonder why people went in shifts, and why everything was kept secret, before it dawned on him that he could possibly be sticking his nose in the government's business. But there was only one way he could be sure.

So Ianto Jones kind of broke the law, in a way. He hooked up a Bluetooth to his phone and sewed the tiny device into one of the suits, eventually handing the suit to one of the representatives of the company. Then, he played the waiting game. He would occasionally turn on the Bluetooth and listen closely, but eventually turn it off, after hearing nothing but eerie silence on the other end of the line. For days he waited, before he heard his miracle-or curse. He didn't know which.

Ianto had left the tailoring shop and turned on the Bluetooth when he heard it: the rustling of fabric, the whipping of wind, and just faintly, a person speaking.

"-is on the move. Is the pre-phase secure?"

"Yes sir," came a louder voice, which Ianto figured was the male wearing the suit, "Need I take the man in?"

"Hill is already on it; I debriefed her this morning. Keep an eye on everyone undercover and get as many details on the possible new recruits."

"Yes sir," Said the louder man, "Safe travels Director Fury, sir."

There came the rustling of fabric before the sound of descending of footsteps down stairs. Ianto continued to listen for a bit longer, when the man wearing the Bluetooth spoke again.

"Agent Hill."

"Coulson," came the faint female voice, "Has Fury informed you about the-"

Suddenly the woman fell quiet, before speaking again. "Coulson, what is glowing in your pocket?"

"My pocket? I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't put anything in my pocket..."

Ianto felt his heart rate incline as he heard loud rustling. He shut off the Bluetooth and found himself heading to his car at a brisk pace, shaking with nervousness. He figured that they would trace the Bluetooth signal and find him before the next morning. Since Ianto assumed such was the case, he might as well be waiting for them. He started his car and headed to his flat that he had since recently moved into, which still had yet to be unpacked boxes waiting for him. Of course, Ianto couldn't be bothered by unpacking his belongings now, for he had to prepare for the government to come busting down his door as late as nine hours from now.

At five the next morning, Ianto was surprised to find himself not being held hostage for interrogation. Instead, he was greeted by the darkness and silence of his lonesome flat. He made tea and began his morning routine, tucking one of the guns from his mother's house in his belt loop beneath his suit. He then proceeded to work after attempting to calm his jumpy nerves.

Of course that morning was one of the ones in which Ianto opened the shop, which meant unlocking and flipping on lights, as well as checking for any orders that might have been placed while the shop had been closed. Ianto found no orders had been placed, and thus settled in to the eerie silence of the store, watching the sun break over the city skyline, bathing the earth in its magnificent spectrum of radiant colours. Eventually, Ianto heard a rustling, and figured it was one of his co-workers that had finally come in, but when he heard the footsteps, he knew it was a stranger. Their shoes sounded like they had synthetic soles, and the shoe size was the average man's, but the stride and weight placed on each step indicated that this was no ordinary man. This was a man of skill and precision, with a body that had quite a bit of muscle...

Ianto heard the person grow closer and slid the hand gun from his belt loop. The moment the person rounded the corner, Ianto already had his gun aimed and cocked at the intruder. The intruder had his gun up as well, and Ianto examined him. Indeed, the other man was rather well built for whatever age he might have been- Ianto could see creases of experience on the man's face, along with brownish hair that had a few grey strands of hair mixed in. The man's grey-blue eyes were emotionless, but Ianto could see that behind them, the man seemed to be rather kind.

"Put the gun down, before you hurt yourself." Said the man in a demanding tone. Ianto pulled the trigger, firing a warning shot that grazed just an inch over the other man's shoulder, before cocking the gun again.

"I stand corrected." The man raised his brows briefly in surprise, before his face fell rigid and authoritative once more. "Put the gun down before _I_ hurt _you_."

"Why would you have the need to hurt me?"

"And why would you carry a gun on you, Mr. Jones?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm asking the questions, Mr. Jones."

"Like hell you are, sir." Ianto moved suddenly to pull the red tie he had been wearing off. He attempted to grab the man in a chokehold, using the tie as a gag, but the man had seen his plan and avoided his attack. The man folded Ianto's arms behind his back and pinned him against the wall, eliminating any chance of escape.

"Mr. Ianto Jones, you're coming with me."

Ianto felt the cool metal of the gun press against his head, before he felt darkness overcome him.


	4. Three

Ianto opened his eyes groggily, his mind fuzzy and aching as he tried to remember how he got knocked out. He sat up to find his hands chained to the leg of a table bolted to the metal flooring of the room. The walls were cement painted white, and it didn't take a genius to know that Ianto was in an interrogation room. Unfortunately Ianto could only wonder where this interrogation room was, what time it was, and how long he had been out for.

The door opened, and Ianto glanced over to find the middle-aged man whom had knocked him out earlier entering the room. The door shut behind him, and the man came to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the table from Ianto. His grey-blue eyes were boring into Ianto's, and his lips were pulled into a hard line. He sat stiffly in the chair, and Ianto saw the kindness behind the man's eyes had virtually disappeared. Ianto could only wonder what trouble he was in for.

"Ianto Jones." Said the man, and rested his clasped hands and arms on the table, leaning forward. "What were you attempting to accomplish when you hid a Bluetooth in the pocket of one of our suits?"

"With all due respect, sir, I know it was your pocket."

"We can do this the hard way." The man narrowed his eyes, and Ianto knew from crime shows and movies that it could only get worse if he didn't cooperate.

"No company name. People switching out in precise rotations. Hundreds of dollars of suits without so much as a whisper. My mother taught me that if you don't get the question you asked answered, then you have to go out and find the answer out yourself."

The man furrowed his brows and managed a slight smile. "You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into, Ianto Jones."

"Well, I have a good idea that you work for some branch of the government, presumably a secret service of some sort, as I heard the term, 'agent'. Not to mention you know my name... and I'm taking a wild stab that I'm in some part of your official establishment."

"You are persistent in getting your information, I'll give you that. But tell me, you are technically considered a criminal for breaking and entering by means of electronic communication, so why shouldn't I send you to jail?"

"There's nothing stopping you, sir." Ianto managed a small smile, and the man's face suddenly seemed to go blank for a moment, before he furrowed his brows. Ianto continued. "My sister is on the other side of the world, my mother is probably as far away from me as possible, and my father... I never knew him. No one would miss me."

The man leaned back off the table and thought for a moment before speaking. "I'll let you off this one time, Mister Jones, just because I've seen that look before..."

Ianto was about to ask what the man meant, but decided against it when the man uncuffed him from the table. Ianto held his hand out to shake the man's hand.

"Thank you... Coulson, was it I heard?"

The man shook his hand, but didn't reply, and Ianto heard a gun cock, before the world was shut out.


	5. Four

Ianto woke with his head aching, and blinked to find himself laying in bed. He didn't bother to figure out how the hell he'd gotten there, as it was the government he'd gotten involved in, for fuck's sake. Of all things.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and glanced over to find that the only light filtering in to his plain room was from between the blinds, where a streetlight sat on the street outside, and his alarm clock. The pale green numbers indicated it was just before midnight, and Ianto closed his eyes once more, in hopes that sleep would overcome him. Of course, such was not the case, as his mind raced, trying to piece together his experience with that man Coulson's interrogation _. What did he mean by 'I've seen that look before'?_ Ianto could only wonder.

So he decided that he would sneak into the mysterious building.

Three mornings afterward, Ianto took a day off, feeling terrible for doing such, but his curiosity could be kept in no longer. He felt his pulse incline as he approached the government building, and he touched the cool metal handle of the gun hidden behind his back and tucked in to his belt. A wave of calamity washed over him for a moment, before he moved his hand out from behind his back and took a deep breath. Ianto didn't know when he'd be able to breathe freely again, if at all.

Ianto snuck his way about and turned a corner when he found himself face-to-face with none other than the man whom he had been interrogated by not too long ago: Coulson. Coulson gave Ianto a dark look and they mirrored one another, whipping out their guns from behind their backs and aiming at one another. Coulson's face was rigid and his glare icy, and Ianto wanted to look intimidating, but nothing about his young face and kind grey eyes helped his case.

"Phil, I need you to-" A woman in a suit stopped mid-sentence when she saw both Ianto and Coulson aiming their guns at one another. Her face was serious and her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun, and Ianto knew that she was a government agent as well.

In the spur of the moment, Ianto knocked the gun from Coulson's hand. Coulson seemed a bit shocked at Ianto's skill, and Ianto was about to take advantage of Coulson's hesitation, he landed a solid uppercut under Ianto's chin. Ianto stumbled back, dazed for a moment and seeing spots, but attempting to stay alert. This Coulson guy was stronger than he looked, but if Ianto's self-teaching defence lessons taught him anything, it was that he always had to fake being alert and not let the attacker know you're hurt. Ianto found himself swinging punches, dodging and blocking Coulson's fists. At one point, Ianto was thrown back by Coulson and he stumbled down to the ground where Coulson's gun was, noticing that the barely visible bullets loaded just behind the barrel weren't ordinary bullets. They seemed to have a light blue ring about the back of them, and Ianto figured that these were the bullets that Coulson used to knock him out.

Coulson was coming at Ianto and his face was pulled into a dark glare. Ianto picked up the gun off the concrete and aimed quickly, pressing the trigger. With a loud noise, Coulson fell back upon a large grey crate behind him. Ianto's hands shook slightly as he tossed the gun aside, before noticing that just beyond where Coulson lay, there stood the woman Hill.

But she was not alone.


End file.
